05.22.08

Another reason why making it in style journalism is an ambition I’ve crossed off my (heartrendingly short) list of career goals: I’m not interested in making up words. For example: “manscaping.” Sounds like the title of a gay porn movie or some Miles O’Keeffe-hosted HGTV show in which bodybuilders redecorate your home — there’s an overlap between those two, also — but it’s not. It’s a term that describes male grooming, and it’s been around for a long time, apparently. (Anyway, long enough for Jenny Miller’s Heck’s Kitchen to be writing about the subject in ’04)

Anyway, the purpose all that is this: must we call Celtics forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis a “manscaper?” Can’t we just say that he’s a dude who prefers a clear top coat on his fingernails after one of his bi-weekly manicures? Because, according to the Boston Herald‘s Jill Radsken, the previous sentence is something we can, factually, say. (This article is also a week old, and GC sent it to me some days ago: let’s just pretend I was out of the country or something)

The 22-year-old didn™t always pay attention to grooming habits. œNot until I started liking girls, he recalled last week during an interview in the lobby (movie screening room, billiard and card tables included) of his Waltham apartment building. Nowadays, Big Baby, who got his name for his size and sensitivity during his elementary years in Louisiana, has a daily regimen of moisturizing, brushing and buffing himself into top form.

Valee Gallant, marketing and communications manager for Ace (with whom Davis has an endorsement deal! — ed.), said the deal was œa no-brainer.

œAce grooming tools are built for men and we needed a man-size spokesman who would resonate with Boston-area sports fans, she said.

Davis said simply: œThey were surprised at some of the things I do.

Those habits include liberal use of Lubriderm lotion to keep his hands soft. He gets manicures twice a month, and favors – without apology – a clear top coat. The stereotypical œguys-as-grimy-and-rough image is outdated, he said. œMy generation is changing. Guys are doing the same things women are doing, he said.